Blues boss Alex McLeish said he had received just the response he had called for from his players after their 2-1 victory at Portsmouth.

Having seen his side knocked out of the FA Cup at the same place, Fratton Park, just three days earlier Big Eck had talked about freshening up the side that had given absolutely everything to get the club to 40 Premier League points by the end of February.

And he did just that, bringing in Stuart Parnaby for the injured Stephen Carr and Chucho, Michel and Craig Gardner for James McFadden, Lee Bowyer and Seb Larsson respectively.

The response was an emphatic one and Cameron Jerome's first half double salvo set Blues on their way to another excellent away win. Kanu's goal in injury time right at the end was merely a consolation.

McLeish told bcfc.com: "The response was excellent, just what we wanted. We played some very good football tonight, holding onto possession better than we did on Saturday and caused Portsmouth a lot of problems.

"We scored two excellent first half goals and could have had more. It's not an exaggeration to say we could have been four or five up at the break.

"The link-up play between the front two, Cameron and Chucho, was really good and Cameron showed how good he is as a finisher with both goals.

"Chucho came back into the starting line-up after doing some good things on the ball when he came on as a sub on Saturday and did well. He may not have scored in abundance this season but he's certainly been responsible for a lot of assists for goals and that is hugely important too."

The only downsides of an impressive display on the South Coast were the injury time Kanu header - which prevented yet another cleansheet - and another injury picked up by the unfortunate Parnaby.

McLeish added: "The lads are not happy about not getting a shut-out and that's a huge sign of their character. That pleases me because it shows how much they care about the defensive side of the game and how keen they are to keep cleansheets.

"But they can certainly be proud with what is another excellent away Premier League win and now we look forward to the next challenge - the visit of Everton to St. Andrew's on Saturday."